Former court clerk pleads guilty to tampering, theft

ELYRIA — Former Lorain Municipal Court deputy clerk Sierra Dozier pleaded guilty Friday to charges stemming from the theft of $31,000 in court funds during the seven years she worked there.

Dozier, 26, entered guilty pleas before county Common Pleas Judge Mark Betleski to four counts of tampering with records, two counts of theft in office and two counts of theft. She also pleaded guilty to three counts each of endangering children, permitting drug abuse and a count of possession of marijuana.

The tampering with records, theft in office, and possession of marijuana charges are felonies, according to court personnel. Sentencing was set for Aug. 4.

The charges against Dozier sprang from an investigation dating to a May 2013 raid at her home in regards to her live-in boyfriend in which Lorain Municipal Court traffic citations, checks payable to the court and other documents were seized by authorities.

Investigators eventually concluded that Dozier had stolen about $31,000 during her years with the city’s court.

She was fired from her job as deputy clerk in 2013.

Dozier admitted to stealing $200 to $300 a week from the court from people who paid fines, court costs or bonds, authorities have said. She wrote in a court filing that she used the money for dinners and other things.

She was ordered to repay the stolen funds.

The drug and endangering children charges against Dozier stemmed from the same May 2013 raid of a Lorain home shared by Dozier and her now husband, Julio Osorio, that netted police six pounds of marijuana and approximately $1,000 cash.

Osorio, 27, was sentenced in June by Betleski to seven years on a variety of drug charges including six counts of trafficking in drugs (cocaine), one count of trafficking in drugs (marijuana), two counts of possession of criminal tools and one count of possession of marijuana.